Trash Can Doodle

[StaceyW]

Oliver (9 months) keeps opening the kitchen trash can - we have tried turning it around to face the wall (its the kind with the foot petal) but he is still doing it.  Suggestions?

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

Trash smells good to a dog. If you own a remote controlled citronella spray collar, you can use it to deter him from touching the trash can. That worked really well with one of my dogs who also likes to empty trash cans and roll in the rotting stuff. Or put the trash can under the sink so he can't get to it (cheap and easy solution).

[Nugget's Family]

Nugget used to do this. When she was a pup, we used empty soda cans with pennies in it for things like this. (We still use them from time to time.) Our trainer got us using them and they were very effective. We washed out soda cans, put about 10 pennies in each can, taped up the hole at the top and then, if she behaved in an undesirable fashion, the can would drop to the tile floor and startle her. Our trainer was very specific that she shouldn't see us dropping the can or else she would associate the noise with us. So, for instance, if I walked into the kitchen and saw her grabbing something off of the counter, but her back was to me, I would drop a can to the floor. Or, when she tried to swipe food off of the dinner table, our trainer came to our house at dinner time one night and tied a bunch of soda cans with pennies in them together with dental floss around all of us in a big oval. When Nugget put her puppy paws up on the table to try to swipe my daughter's dinner, she set off the boobie trap of cans and the cans with pennies went tumbling to the tile making quite a racket. She hasn't table surfed since. So, I then put a can with pennies on top of the garbage can and she knocked it off one day when she tried to get in the garbage. Hasn't done it since. We have found this to be a very effective tool. Now, if she starts to "push the envelope" we just have to show her the can without even shaking it, and she gets back to her good behavior.

Hope this is helpful

Susan

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

I tried the pennies in the soda can thingy to attempt to stop Harlow's counter surfing. Here is a picture of how well it kept her from surfing. =)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Oliver or did you say his name was Oscar?

Just get a large trash can with a lid. You will have to work to get the lid off but you won't have to bend over and pick up trash or bend over and wash the dog. It's a trade off. This would be safer for your dog also.

Once word of caution, my big dogs used to push the cans down the basement steps so the lids would come off.

Do they really make citronella collars? That is awful. What a head ache.

[BetteB]

We have had similar troubles, but it has forced us to do 2 things: take the trash out more often (lol) and make sure to keep a lid on it. It sounds like Oliver is just too smart, using that foot pedal! I also keep the door to the bathroom closed (as consistently as possible) so Agnes cannot hunt in there. She loves Kleenex, used and unused! Good luck!

[Debbie Penny]

Charlie did this too, amazing how smart they are. We started placing noisy objects on the lid so that they fell if he was in action when we weren't looking. It worked. Our bathroom doors are always closed too, otherwise, it's toilet paper and garbage tissues all over the place. Good luck.

[Kyoko]

When we got Charlie, I bought a nice, a bit pricy stainless steel trash can, because I figure that she will be tall enough to nudge the lid to open up the cheap, plastic,and shorter trash can we had . I also have a baby gate to the kitchen, so they really can't get in there to mess with the trash can....

[Pat & "Tucker"]

I have the stainless steel round can also with lid and foot pedal. Works nicely- Tucker can't open it.

[Karen P]

We keep our trash can under the sink. As long as Chewie doesn't start opening cabinets we should be safe.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

We have one of those under counter rollout trash bin thingies. We still had to put a child-proof lock on the cabinet door to keep Sherlock out of the trash.

[Karen P]

Yikes, that is one smart doodle !!! I guess we will wait and see....

[Debbie and Thomas]

Second vote here for putting the trash under the sink cupboard.....save yourself the worry of silly Oli getting into something that will make him sick. Our doodle would have been into the garbage all the time when he was nine months old. If you can't do that, what if you sprayed the lid of the can with bitter apple or like others said, put something on top like a sauce pan or something that will make a loud crash if it falls to the floor. Honestly, I think if you continue telling him to "leave it" in a stern voice he will eventually leave it alone, but it may take a couple of years!!! I'll bet he is a good boy though with everything else...nobody's perfect.